Exercise Physiology
Focus Statement:
The members of the exercise physiology division are Prof Rob Newton, Assoc Prof Ken Nosaka, Assoc Prof Paul Laursen, Dr. Mike McGuigan, Dr Dylan Edwards, Dr Greig Watson, Dr Mike Newton and numerous postgraduate students. The team has a wide variety of research interests that include understanding of fatigue, the effects of nutrition and nutritional supplements on body systems and performance, the effects of exercise-induced muscle damage and muscle soreness. Further the exercise physiology laboratory houses a purpose-built climate chamber and considerable research is currently investigating the influence of body water manipulation and its effects on body temperature and exercise performance. Expanding areas of investigation include skeletal muscle and endocrine adaptations to resistance exercise, the monitoring of exercise training programs and optimising training for soccer.
View our current projects in this area.
Current Postgraduate Students working within the area and their projects:
Jeremiah Peiffer: Jeremiah is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento, where he earned a Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology focusing his research on cycling, specifically interval training. Since arriving at ECU, Jeremiah’s interests have shifted to thermoregulation with his research now aimed at determining the effects of cold water immersion on recovery from exercise in the heat. Outside of ECU Jeremiah has been a competitive cyclist for the last five years and is co-founder of the ECU Cycling Club. His future aims include further examining thermoregulation in a variety of competitive and industrial situations as well as teaching exercise physiology in a University setting. His thesis title is “The Influence of Cold Water Immersion Following Prolonged High-Intensity Cycling in the Heat on Recovery.” (PhD Supervisors: Paul Laursen, Ken Nosaka, Greig Watson)
Chris Abbiss: Chris received his B.Sc. Sports Science with Honours from ECU in 2004. The focus of Chris’ Honours research was aimed at understanding factors that influence fatigue during prolonged endurance cycling. Chris is a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award and an ECU Excellence Award and is currently undertaking his PhD in Exercise Physiology. Chris’ PhD research is on understanding the physiological factors that may influence the regulation of self-selected exercise intensity during endurance cycling with the hope of better understanding methods to improve endurance performance. (PhD Supervisor: Paul Laursen, Co-supervisor David T. Marin: Australian Institute of Sport)
Dale Chapman: Dale is a graduate of Edith Cowan University, where he earned a Masters of Science—Sports Science, focusing on exercise-induced muscle damage. He holds a CSCS accreditation and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the senior female and male teams of the Hale Hockey Club. Other research interests include the influence of training on postural control in different clinical and athletic populations and muscle atrophy post joint trauma. His thesis title is “The effect of contraction velocity on muscle damage and adaptation of the human elbow flexors.” (PhD Supervisors: Ken Nosaka, Mike McGuigan)
Makii Muthalib: Mark is a graduate of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, where he earned a Bachelor of Science (Honours, Class 1) in the field of Exercise Physiology in 1997 with a thesis entitled "The effects of repeated bouts of eccentric exercise on neuromuscular fatigue and adaptation". Mark is a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award and is currently undertaking his PhD in Exercise Physiology. His thesis title is "Inflammation and eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage" (PhD Supervisor: Ken Nosaka, Dylan Edwards)
Wing Lau: Wing completed his B.Sc. Sports Science at Edith Cowan University in 2005. His research interests include the effects of vibration training, exercise-induced muscle damage and recovery interventions. His thesis title is “Effect of vibration on muscle function and recovery from muscle damage.” (Masters Supervisor: Ken Nosaka)
Tasuku Fujikake: Tasuku was awarded his B.Sc. (Natural Science) from Yokohama City University (Japan) in 2005. At Yokohama City University, Tasuku first came into contact with Assoc Prof Ken Nosaka who held a teaching and research position within the university and Tasuku took the opportunity to follow him here to ECU upon graduation. His research interest is in exercise-induced muscle damage and specifically the relationship between eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage and B-mode ultrasonography. His thesis title is “Detection of muscle damage by ultrasound images”. (Masters Supervisor: Ken Nosaka)
Jack Burns: Jack completed his Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree in Sports Science at Edith Cowan University in 2005. Jack is currently an assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Perth Football Club and is also an active member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. He is currently investigating modalities to improve cycling performance and his thesis title is “Does training with PowerCranks™ modify muscle activation patterns, economy of motion, cycling efficiency and cycling performance in trained cyclists?” (Masters Supervisors: Paul Laursen, Greig Watson)
Roger Pegoraro. Roger completed his Bachelor of Science (Sports Science) degree at Edith Cowan University in 2006. He was recipient of the Joondalup Rehabilitation Clinic Prize in 2005 and the Sports Medicine Australia (WA) Prize in 2006. Roger is currently undertaking a Master of Science degree in exercise physiology investigating the etiology of exercise-associated muscle cramps. He is currently employed at a fitness consultancy service which involves working with a broad cross section of clients from patient populations to professional athletes including the Perth Wildcats basketball team. (Masters Supervisors: Paul Laursen, Greig Watson, Ken Nosaka).
Richard Garrad: Richard completed his Bachelor of Science (Sports Science) with a minor in Human Biology in 2006. His Masters thesis is in the field of exercise-induced muscle damage in relation to fatigue and muscle oxygenation. He is currently working at Zest Health Clubs as a personal trainer. (Masters Supervisors: Ken Nosaka, Dylan Edwards).
Rodney
Siegel: Rodney received his
bachelor degree in Human Movement majoring in exercise
physiology at Deakin University in 2003. After working
in the sport science department at the Victorian Institute
of Sport during 2004 and 2005 as a student, he returned
to Deakin in 2006 to complete his Honours degree
investigating the role of Vitamin D in muscle growth
in a cell culture model. Rodney then headed west to ECU
to undertake a PhD. His project involves determining
optimal cooling and pre-exercise interventions for team
sport performance in the heat (PhD Supervisor: Paul Laursen,
Co-Supervisors: Ken Nosaka and Greig Watson).
Abdulaziz Aldayel: Abdul gained his Bachelor's degree in Physical Education from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, in 1999. In 2004, he completed a Masters degree in Exercise Science from the University of Kansas in the United States. His research interest is the applications of electrical stimulation to resistance training, with a current research focusing on endocrine adaptations to resistance exercise evoked by electrical stimulation. (PhD Supervisor: Mike McGuigan)
Marc Quod. Marc is the recipient of the Douglas Tumilty PhD Scholarship, and is currently completing an industry-based PhD at the Australian Institute of Sport, primarily with the high-performance cycling program. The role involves both research and athlete servicing, with a research focus in the areas of quantification of training lode, understanding “cycling performance” and altitude. (PhD Supervisor: Paul Laursen, David T. Martin).
Goh Shi Shien. Goh Shi Shien (Sam) completed his BSc (Sports Science) undergraduate degree at Edith Cowan University in 2006. He is currently undertaking his Masters degree researching the effects of gradient compression garments (Skins) on running economy, muscle oxygenation, maximal performance and its effectiveness in hot and cold environments. (Masters Supervisors: Paul Laursen, Ken Nosaka).
